Wheelchair fund hits €2,200 ; Cruise ships bring €46 million ; Shopping Centre finalists
Today’s Photo Thanks to Debs … Pet garden butterfly, he’s getting a little old now hence the holes in his starboard wing – must have been in a dog fight!
From the Norwich Evening News : More holidaymakers can fly to Madeira from Norwich International Airport next year with Atlantic Holidays offering six direct flights from the airport on Mondays from July 26 to August 30.
Fátima arrived in Ribeira Brava last night with a huge entourage of cars and motorbikes, all honking their horns, as well as a police escort. The convey must have taken 10 minutes to pass my house. The statue is supposed to be going around the churches over several months, but checking back on earlier blogs it should have already been and gone from Ribeira Brava, so perhaps it was just ‘passing through’. UPDATE: Apparently it was on the way from the high zones of Ribeira Brava bound for Serra da Água, where it will leave again today for the Igreja de São Bento in Ribeira Brava, where it will stay until Sunday.
Many thanks to Elaine once again for yesterday’s top news stories :
Solidarity campaign has collected 2.200 Euros. The campaign to raise funds to donate an electric wheelchair to Ilda Maria Andrade has brought together around 2,200 Euros. The appeal began with a reader’s letter in the Diário and donations exceeded 700 Euros. This week this has more than doubled with a businessman linked to the company Modas Jacinto’s contributing 1,500 Euros. Even so, funds raised are still less than half the amount needed to purchase the equipment, estimated at 5,959 Euros plus VAT. The 59 year old meningitis and osteoporosis sufferer also needs a ramp built to access her home, and Ribeira Brava Council is studying the possibility of providing one, estimated at 25,000 Euros.
Parishes adhere to the banners of baby Jesus. All over Portugal and Madeira this Christmas you will be able to see on balconies and in windows, cloth banners with the image of baby Jesus. In order to bring the true traditional spirit of a Christian Christmas, in which the symbol is baby Jesus, several parishes across the region – Nazaré, Monte and Câmara de Lobos for example - will sell such banners. From next week, they will be on sale for 15 Euros and the profits will provide baskets for needy families, support for the homeless and payment for works of the parish. The project ‘Flags for Christmas 2009′ was created on the continent by a group of families who wanted to share the joy of Christmas with others but noticed a void of Christian symbols in the decorations for Christmas. On the mainland there are about 20,000 banners and the object is to reach 30,000.
Integration of toxicodependents and police on the football field at Andorinha. The football match ended 8 – 4 in favour of the police. Social integration and promotion of healthy lifestyles mattered more than the result. A group of young people, mainly recovering drug addicts, Rua do Bairro de Santo Amaro Team, and the local police involved in the program Policing in Proximity were playing. The trophy won by the police was offered as a gesture of ‘fair play’ to the losing team and a joint lunch followed.
€46 million revenue from cruise ships. The Port of Funchal has higher taxes than the Canary Islands, justified by the fact that passengers and companies are pleased with the destination. The higher taxes are necessary to maintain the quality of the port. The new passenger terminal should improve tourist satisfaction. This year, six ships could not moor due to lack of space. The answer might be an extension of the south jetty or north pier. In comparison, the hotel business generates more than €300 million per year.
Two shopping centres among Europe’s finalists. Forum Madeira and MadeiraShopping are among the finalists for ESCA 2009 award. The International Committee of Shopping Centres announced the finalists last week and the winners will be known on 18 June 2010 in Vienna. MadeiraShopping is nominated in the category ‘Public Relations’ for the fashion event ‘Pop-Up’, together with ArrabidaShopping, CascaisShopping and two Spanish centres. Forum Madeira is nominated in two categories. In ‘Community Relations’ it is nominated along with 10 other centres of the same chain, for the project ‘Will’s Book – The Magic Library’ and the project ‘RecyclART’. In the category ‘Sales, Promotions and Events’ for the project ‘Christmas Competition’. MadeiraShopping has already won European Awards 2002 in the category ‘New Shopping Centres’ and Madeira Forum won in the category ‘Christmas Present’ in 2008.
‘Miguel Angelo’. Enigmatic work in Gaula. An enigmatic work in Gaula has led to fears that public funds have been misapplied. The project which was completed in record time (5 days) was the elongation of Rua de São João Castelejo by a little more than one kilometre. According to the Regional Secretary of Social Infrastructure, the work was to repair deficiencies that occurred in the construction of the fast route Funchal -Airport. But reports and photos show that when the contractor Construtura do Tamega tore up the tarmac to lay infrastructure, there have been left 5 cm longitudinal tears in the asphalt. Strangely, company officials and the population say that nothing had been placed underneath the tarmac, no infrastructure laid, just the trench opened and then closed. The members of the Parish Council of Gaula say they do not know anything about the work. They are puzzled why the road was subject to total resurfacing when the tarmac was in good condition and there are worse roads needing repair in the area. Both Tamega and the Regional Secretary say that the repair of defects in the construction work was written in the contract and the firm paid for the repair work. They both explain that the opening of the trench was to repair a longitudinal fissure that had occurred in the road surface.
Support for travel benefits half of the residents. Since the social mobility allowance was introduced by the State, 49.3% less trips (104,000 passages) made by residents have been claimed after liberalization of air routes. Before liberalization of the air traffic, companies charged the State a fee of 118 Euros for 232,000 tickets sold to Lisbon and Porto. After liberalization, resident’s support is 60 Euros each trip or 30 Euros each way. Compared to trips made before liberalization, the State support to passengers fell 49.3%. So the State wins in two ways; the amount of support and the amount spent. The cost of air fare to and from Lisbon has fallen but it is not clear why the number of Madeirans claiming social mobility support has halved. Before liberalization, 22.9% of passengers were entitled to subsidy and since then, it has fallen to 11.4%. Some claims are outside the time limit and the Post Office still has 125 cases unresolved. The movement at the airports fell by 2.6% at Porto and 4.4% at Madeira, and has increased 18.5% at Lisbon. Before liberalization, the State spent 23 million Euros on support, an average of 103 Euros although the companies were entitled to receive 118 Euros per resident. This year, the full year of liberalization, the State spent only 7.5 million Euros for 117,513 tickets sold, ie a saving of 15.5 million Euros. The Government now wants an allowance equivalent to half the value of the ticket, which would be 73 Euros (13 Euros more than the current 60 Euros).
Driver without a licence and insurance arrested twice in a few hours. A 26 year old man was arrested twice on Friday and Saturday for driving without a licence and without insurance. He was arrested on Friday evening in Funchal and again, hours later, in the early hours of Saturday in Santa Cruz. The second time, he was arrested for these two offences and also for driving a seized vehicle and driving under the influence of alcohol (1.5 g/l). He went to Santa Cruz to "forget his grief". The police stopped him after his car broke down and he made a dangerous manoeuvre in the opposite direction to which he was travelling, between Santa Cruz and Funchal.
Today’s news headlines from the front page of the Diário de Notícias :
Madeira hosts Christmas party of UEFA – Platini avoids touching on controversial matters. Besides the meeting of the top European Football executive committee, Madeira is to be the venue for the annual UEFA Xmas bash. The party will be tomorrow night in Reid’s Palace Hotel, the same hotel where all the committee members are staying. Some of the members of the reunion are known to be staying on after ‘official business’ to enjoy the delights of Madeira. UEFA boss Michel Platini had already made enquiries. "He asked me if there is good weather. It is very satisfying to finally have an Executive Committee scheduled for Madeira, which was not easy, because other countries had already been asking (to host?) for much longer than Portugal. There is curiosity to know Madeira and I hope the good weather continues", said the president of the Portuguese Football Federation. the main items on the agenda include the Euro 2012, where some important final decisions will be made about the stadiums to be used, and some issues related to regulations, and some discussions about the internal organisation of UEFA itself. I knew it, and said some weeks ago that it was a Christmas jolly in disguise. Life is tough for football’s top bosses, and an expensive bash in Reid’s is probably just the remedy (warning : Der sarcasm in use).
New president of U.D. Santana criticises previous management.
Today’s main news headline : Government delays payments – There are 55 cases of ‘burden sharing’ on Madeira and works have already been inaugurated that will only be paid in 2011. It’s not an uncommon practice when the treasury is stretched, with public and private institutions sharing the financial burden, with their due payments delayed until better times. The list of 55 such cases has already been decided. The ‘Construction of the connection tunnel to the central and northern parts of the town of Ribeira Brava’ is the first example given of the postponement of payments. The work was finished and inaugurated long ago, but last October, by order of Ventura Garcês the payment terms were amended from those that provided for payment of the work in three years (€205,000 in 2006, €1.9 million in 2007 and €1.9 in 2008). The first two years were paid, but in the final one nothing was paid, and just €500,000 this year. The final €1.4 million will be delayed until next year. It’s no wonder public works contracts are so darn expensive, with companies involved in the tender processes having to factor in the costs of vastly delayed payments, as well as the back-handers needed to win the business. Still, several senior politicians have fingers in the pies, so when it comes down to it, arms can be twisted and contract terms amended without too much reaction from some of the companies affected.
Azoreans reject the amendment to the Madeira Regional Finance Law. The Regional Parliament’s Economy Committee is opposing Madeira’s proposal to amend the law on regional financing. According to the Committee, the Azores would stand to lose 32 million Euros if Madeira’s amendment to the law is passed by the Assembly of the Republic. The amendment was proposed by the Madeira PSD. In the Azores, both the Socialist Party and the CDS are against any changes in the legislation. The only party in the archipelago to support the amendment is the PSD, providing the introduction of a clause ensuring that the Azores would not lose out. (Courtesy of the RTP Azores website / Kitty Bale).
The main photo on the front page shows an elderly lady, sat in her dressing gown, and looking rather perturbed. One year of waiting for an urgent operation – Isabel Rodrigues, aged 84, is desperate for the promised cataract operations. SESARAM hide the number of patients waiting and the waiting time for consultations and surgery. Isabel Margarida Rodrigues lives in Travessa do Pomar, and says that she doesn’t want to die without being able to see again. She cannot see anything through her left eye, and she no longer has the courage to go out of her house alone. With the problem worsening day by day, she waited and waited for an appointment at the hospital, that eventually came this Summer, when the consultant recommended cataract surgery for both eyes. At the same time it was reported that there were already 800 people on the waiting list for that type of surgery. The rest of the article looks at the long waiting lists for that type and many other types of surgery and procedures. The information provided by the health service is criticised by the auditors, who say that "The information system associated with the management of waiting lists (surgical and consultation) has a limited reliability and does not represent a true and fair global view of the patients and potential patients who are awaiting the provision of specialist services by Funchal Central Hospital.
2010 has three less days of rest. Workers will only get 147 rest days in 2010, three less than in 2009. 2010 will provide opportunities for six ‘tolerance’ days, and 5 ‘bridge’ days, and those workers who know how to work the system can maximise their breaks from the 104 weekend days by another 43, using holiday leave (25) and weekday public holidays (10) and the goodwill of employers.
Recordings of ‘Until Tomorrow My Love’ start on the 14th – The mini-series of TVI gets underway here next Monday and brings familiar faces. The new anticipated TV series from the good people of Channel 4 is actually titled ‘Até Amanhã Meu Amor’ in Portuguese.
… and that’s when the Diário website crashed! If anyone else can oblige with the translation of any of the ‘blank’ or sparsely filled headlines, or other news stories, here is the link
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Christmas only for the great. Political Christmas party rivalry. With three elections this year, the smallest parties have no funds for gatherings. The PSD and the PS will have large celebrations in Madeira Tecnopolo. The PCP (Communists) have never held dinners at this time and the funds will be spent on their convention in February. The MPT (Earth Party) also have insufficient funds. Of the three large parties, only the CDS-PP have a different choice of location for the Christmas dinner; 200 met yesterday in a restaurant in Encumeada. Last year, there were over 1,500 PSD members in the Tecnopolo and this year, the organizers expect a similar number. It will be at 20.00 on 12 December. With the usual protocol, the regional leader, Alberto Jardim, will open the official speeches before the dinner. The Socialists expect a more ambitious gathering than last year when there were 800 at the meal. This year, they expect 1,200 to 1,400 at Tecnopolo. This is scheduled for December 19 at 19.30, with a speech by the party leader João Carlos Gouveia. On 20 December, the Socialists Funchal branch will also hold a Christmas party for children belonging to the militants.
Câmara de Lobos lights up tonight. In Câmara de Lobos, they maintain the tradition of the official opening of the Christmas celebrations on the public holiday assigned to today. In ‘baixa’, the House of Father Christmas at the entrance to the city is the ‘card’ for the visitor. A traditional nativity scene is by the Municipal Market. In the vicinity of the Town Hall, at the entrance to Avenida da Nova Cidade, the garden is decorated with a large nativity scene with a background of the traditional houses of Santana. Other areas for excellent decorations are the churches where the presepios and lapinhas have been authentically constructed.
Fire at Panteada Market. Fire broke out early on Tuesday morning at Panteada Market in Sao Roque, causing extensive damage to 12 fruit and vegetable stalls. The warning was given at 07.07 and two emergency fire vehicles and two ambulances went to the site, manned by 15 men. The firemen wearing breathing apparatus broke down the corrugated zinc door and roof to extinguish the flames and allow the smoke to escape. It is thought that a short-circuit causing overheating of Christmas lights started the fire. After the investigation, the debris can now be cleared away and the losses which are huge are still being evaluated by the stall holders.
